SPECIMENS OF LYRICAL, NARRATIVE, AND DESCRIPTIVE POETRY, FROM LIVING AUTHORS. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. RUTH. WHEN Ruth was left half desolate, And she had made a Pipe of straw, Beneath her Father's roof, alone She seem'd to live; her thoughts her own; Herself her own delight: Pleased with herself, nor sad nor gay, She passed her time; and in this way There came a Youth from Georgia's shore A military Casque he wore With splendid feathers drest; He brought them from the Cherokees : The feathers nodded in the breeze, And made a gallant crest. From Indian blood you deem him sprung: He 'cross the ocean came. With hues of genius on his cheek The moon, the glory of the sun, And streams that murmur as they run, Had been his dearest joy. He was a lovely Youth! I guess The panther in the wilderness Was not so fair as he; And, when he chose to sport and play, No dolphin ever was so gay Upon the tropic sea. Among the Indians he had fought; Such tales as, told to any Maid By such a Youth, in the green shade, He told of Girls, a happy rout! Who quit their fold with dance and shout, To gather strawberries all day long; When daylight is gone down. He spake of plants divine and strange With budding, fading, faded flowers, He told of the Magnolia, (a) spread -Of flowers (b) that with one scarlet gleam Cover a hundred leagues, and seem To set the hills on fire. (a) Magnolia grandiflora. (b) The splendid appearance of these scarlet flowers, which are scattered with such profusion over the hills in the southern parts of North America, is frequently mentioned by Bartram in his Travels. The Youth of green savannahs spake, Of islands, that together lie And then he said, "How sweet it were A gardener in the shade, Still wandering with an easy mind To build a household fire, and find A home in every glade! "What days and what sweet years! Ah me! Our life were life indeed, with thee So passed in quiet bliss, And all the while," said he, to know That we were in a world of wo, On such an earth as this !" 66 And then he sometimes interwove "Sweet Ruth! and could you go with me My helpmate in the woods to be, Our shed at night to rear ; Or run, my own adopted Bride, "Beloved Ruth !"-No more he said. The wakeful Ruth at midnight shed A solitary tear : She thought again—and did agree "And now, as fitting is and right, Even so they did; and I may say Through dream and vision did she sink, But, as you have before been told, This Stripling, sportive, gay, and bold, And with his dancing crest So beautiful, through savage lands Had roamed about, with vagrant bands Of Indians in the West. The wind, the tempest roaring high, Might well be dangerous food For him, a Youth to whom was given So much of earth-so much of Heaven, And such impetuous blood. |